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THOMAS FRANKLIN SEALE November 28, 1924 – April 14, 1945 |
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Tom was born on November 28, 1924 near Wilsonville, Alabama, the third of five sons born to Nellie and Tracy Seale. He attended Wilsonville Elementary School and graduated from Shelby County High School in Columbiana, Alabama as a member of the Class of 1943. The graduating class was typical of the time when almost all the male members of the class joined various branches of the armed services during World War II.
His hobbies
included fishing and playing baseball. While
Tom entered the Army Air Corps on July 18, 1943 and was sent to basic training in Miami Beach, Florida. Following basic training he graduated from gunnery school.
In October 1944 he was transferred to Westover Field near Springfield, Massachusetts where he began B-24 training as a flight engineer. He was promoted to sergeant on April 10, 1945.
On the morning of April 14, 1945 the Totten Crew was assigned B-24H #42-95120, the Hookem Cow. The Hookem Cow crashed shortly after takeoff at 5:12 am killing five members of the crew, including Tom.
Thomas Franklin Seale was buried in the military cemetery in Cambridge, England. After the war his body was returned to the United States. He was interred in the family cemetery located between Columbiana and Wilsonville, Alabama.
Cemetery Photos and Letter from the War Department Letter Written by Tom to His Mother the Evening Before the Accident |
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in high school during
the early 1940’s he worked part time as a meat cutter in a local
grocery store.